The Mid-Year Freak Out Book Tag

Thank youJay@ThisIsMyTruthNowfor tagging me in The Mid-Year Freakout Book Tag! Seriously, is it really the middle of the year already?!! Wow! the year is going by much too fast 🙂 It has taken me almost 10 days to get around to answering this tag since I’ve been on vacation, but I finally found a free minute; sorry about the delay! 🙂

I love the idea behind this tag since it’s a fantastic way to look back on all the books I’ve read so far in 2017 and keep track of my book challenges! If you’re already a reader of my blog, then Jay probably needs no introduction since he tags me in some really fun tags but if you are a new follower, then make sure you check out his blog! It’s a fabulous blog, and one of the first blogs that I read every day! He has a really great blog with lots of book reviews, his 365 Challenge, his own writing, and other fantastic content. Also, to see Jay’s answers to The Mid-Year Freak Out Tag, click here!

THE BEST BOOK YOU’VE READ SO FAR IN 2017

Without a doubt He Said, She Said by Erin Kelly since it was just so amazingly well-written and had the best plot and most amazing surprise twist! I usually have a suspense or thriller figured out by the time I meet the perpetrator or 20% or less into the story but oh my! I never saw this coming!! Brilliant! I’m still thinking about this book and how fantastic it was a week later. I want to read it again!

YOUR FAVORITE SEQUEL THIS YEAR

Silence Fallen by Patricia Briggs, number 10 in the Mercy Thompson series. I love Mercy, she is just fantastic, but I also love the entire cast of main characters in the books. They are quirky, honest, and even though they are supernatural and paranormal they are as real and down to earth as they can be.

A NEW RELEASE THAT YOU HAVEN’T READ BUT REALLY WANT TO

There are a more than a few, but these are probably the top three: The Marsh King’s Daughter by Karen Dionne, The Last Place You Look by Kristen Lepionka, and The Good Widow by Liz Fenton and Lisa Steinke

MOST ANTICIPATED RELEASE FOR THE SECOND HALF OF THE YEAR

I’m a huge Karin Slaughter fan, so I’m eagerly awaiting The Good Daughter that releases 8/22/17!!

YOUR BIGGEST DISAPPOINTMENT

Into the Water by Paula Hawkins was a huge disappointment. The plot was great and it could have been so much better than it was, and I know the reviews on the book are mixed, but I was overwhelmed by the 10 narrators, which seems to be the general consensus. I really enjoyed The Girl on the Train, and I was hoping for so much more.

BIGGEST SURPRISE OF THE YEAR

That I really enjoyed One of Us Was Lying by Karen M. McManus as much as I did! It had been quite awhile since I had read a Young Adult book, and this was really captivating! It was quite addictive, and I imagine it is going to be one of the most talked about books this summer!

FAVORITE NEW TO YOU OR DEBUT AUTHOR

There are two: Emily Carpenter, author of The Weight of Lies, who is new to me and is just absolutely one of the best authors I have read in a long time and Erin Kelly, who is also new to me, and I think will have the best book of the summer if not all of 2017 with He Said, She Said.

YOUR NEW FICTIONAL CRUSH

Sadly, after looking back at my 2017 books, I don’t have a new crush 😦 A lot of the new release books I have read so far this year have had characters that were really horrible and unlikeable. So, I will have to go with Jack Trenholm from Karen White’s Tradd Street series. Her newest release in the series, The Guests on South Battery, was published in January 2017 so at least it was published this year. Jack is an author, and he is not only a really great guy, a Southern gentleman, but he is hot. All the women he meets drools over him, but he is committed to Melanie, his wife and mother of his twins.

NEW FAVORITE CHARACTER

Eleanor Oliphant from Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman; she is quirky, sad, emotionally repressed, awkward, but funny, kind, loving, funny, intelligent, and oh, so wonderful! I would love to hug her and be her friend!

A BOOK THAT MADE YOU CRY

The Salt House by Lisa Duffy broke me. I knew going into it that it was a story about a family who had lost their baby daughter, but I felt such overwhelming grief when reading this book and completely empathized with the family. Lisa Duffy captured the feelings of grieving parents to perfection, and I think that is why this book just got under my skin and into my soul the way it did. If you haven’t lost a child or ever been close to someone who has, then you will probably cry when reading this, but you will likely not feel the burning ache of grief that Hope does or understand why Jack worked so hard to escape his pain. Several years ago, my sister-in-law, who is like a sister to me, lost a daughter at 26 weeks right at the point of viability. She was born alive but died a couple of hours later after being held by all of us. That moment always stays in your memories. My sister-in-law went through years of depression and blame, and these questions went through her head: Was it her fault? Did something she do that day or the week before cause the preterm labor? Was she being punished in some way? My brother-in-law reacted much like Jack and buried himself in work since she pushed him away. This book was extremely heartbreaking no matter what your experiences are but is even more so if you’ve experienced such grief and loss, and Lisa Duffy writes about the experience perfectly.

A BOOK THAT MADE YOU HAPPY

Eleonor Oliphant is Completely Fine did make me cry but most often, it made me laugh and smile because it was just such a wonderful story of how a person can find redemption, self-understanding, renewal, friendship, and love after a lifetime of despair, anxiety, and abuses. This was such a wonderful story and made me believe in the power of true friendship and faith.

12. YOUR FAVORITE BOOK TO MOVIE ADAPTATION THAT YOU’VE SEEN THIS YEAR

The closest to a book to movie adaption that I’ve seen is King Arthur: Legend of the Sword based off the legends of King Arthur. Since I’m an English professor and British literature is what my degree concentration is in, I would have to say the movie is very loosely based on any Arthurian literature, but it was still an awesome movie. And it has Charlie Hunnam in it, so there is that.

That is really a tough one since all the books that I have bought or gotten as gifts this year have been Kindle books or audiobooks….I will say that The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid that I bought last week does have a gorgeously sensuous and stunning cover (for a Kindle, lol).

15.WHAT ARE SOME BOOKS THAT YOU NEED TO READ BY THE END OF THE YEAR

All of them!! But, since I can’t do that then I definitely want to read these before the year is over: I Know a Secret by Tess Gerritsen, Every Last Lie by Mary Kubica, The Stolen Marriage by Diane Chamberlain, The Midnight Line (Jack Reacher #22) by Lee Child, The Girl Who Takes an Eye for an Eye by David Lagercrantz, and Emma in the Night by Wendy Walker

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I’ve seen this Tag floating around various book blogs for awhile now, since around the time I was tagged, so I know a lot of you have already been tagged! I’m going to tag a couple of people and if you’ve already been tagged, then I apologize and of course, please don’t feel obligated if you don’t want to do it at all! 🙂

Wasn’t that a great book! And The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo was just gorgeous; I almost wish I had bought the hardback, but I promised to curtail my “real” book buying this year since we’ve just run out of bookshelf room although I think I’m just going to ask for some bookshelves to be built in. Have you read Evelyn Hugo yet? I got it Tuesday and could not put it down! It was fantastic! If you haven’t read it yet, I hope you enjoy it as much as I do! Oh, I can’t wait for The Good Daughter; no one writes quite like Slaughter. Thanks for stopping by 🙂

Good morning!! You are very welcome! I meant every word. You’ve been very kind and so welcoming and helpful since we met and I started my blog!! I appreciate it so much 😊
Aww, thx for understanding the delay in posting! I’ve felt like a blog slacker this week, lol. But, vacation and family are definitely priorities 🏄🏖
I probably could have listed a ton more books but controlled myself, lol. You most definitely need to read those 2 books and soon! If you have The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo on your TBR list, I’d recommend reading it asap too! It was brilliant. 😊📚

Ah thanks for tagging me, I haven’t been tagged for this one yet but it’s been ALL OVER my feed and I’ve been dying to do it! He Said She Said seems good! I loooove mystery so that makes sense lol. I very rarely wander out of the YA genre so to be honest I don’t recognize a lot of the titles hehehe.

You’re welcome! I was so afraid I’d tag people who had already done it, so I’m so happy you haven’t and you want to do it!! He Said, She Said is really good…it’s more of a psychological thriller than a mystery, and it really messes with your head, lol. I mostly read that genre and usually figure out whodunit by 20% in the book or as soon as the character is introduced, but this one threw me! Crazy twisty! It’s a slow burning thriller until the end so if you read it, don’t expect wild action from start to finish 😊

Thank you for tagging me Stephanie! I just love this post and I haven’t been tagged yet. I think a lot of these books will be popping up on my Freak Out post too :). I will be reading He Said/She Said in the next couple of weeks. I read The Marsh King’s Daughter and loved it! I’m hoping to read The Good Widow this week. I’m really looking forward The Good Daughter, it will be my first Karin Slaughter book. Last but not least, I want to read Eleanor Oilphant.

LOL, Great minds think alike! I started The Marsh King’s Daughter today and am enjoying it! If you liked it, then I am pretty sure you will like Karin Slaughter! She is one of my all time favorites! I am reading the ARC just because I can’t wait, but I have already bought the book just because I have every book she has ever published! Eleanor Oliphant was amazing! I just smiled and laughed and cried! I hope you really like He Said, She Said! It is not a fast paced suspense, but a slow burn! It makes you think you are going crazy there at the end because that is when it starts getting insanely twisty and all crazy! I couldn’t figure out whodunit even though I thought I knew, lol! I loved it!! And you are very welcome for the tag 🙂

I do! I just signed into my Audible account and listened to a 4 minute preview of it, and it sounded great! I can’t stand some narrators stop listening because of that, but I personally liked this one. I do think this would definitely hold your attention. I can’t remember a single part of the book where my attention lagged 😀

You’re welcome! I knew I could answer if it would hold your attention, well, I hope so since it did mine! But, my biggest pet peeves with audiobooks is the narrators, lol! I knew I couldn’t answer without hearing it! The free trial is a great deal. You get to return the free book if you don’t like it, get a replacement, and still keep the books you didn’t like! I’m sure people take advantage of that but for the occasional bad book, that’s a pretty good deal! I’d definitely rather be reading or listening to a book on a flight than anything else! 😀